foreach

Evaluate a group of commands for each value in a list.

foreach(<loop_var> <items>)
  <commands>
endforeach()

where <items> is a list of items that are separated by semicolon or whitespace. All commands between foreach and the matching endforeach are recorded without being invoked. Once the endforeach is evaluated, the recorded list of commands is invoked once for each item in <items>. At the beginning of each iteration the variable <loop_var> will be set to the value of the current item.

The scope of <loop_var> is restricted to the loop scope. See policy CMP0124 for details.

The commands break() and continue() provide means to escape from the normal control flow.

Per legacy, the endforeach() command admits an optional <loop_var> argument. If used, it must be a verbatim repeat of the argument of the opening foreach command.

foreach(<loop_var> RANGE <stop>)

In this variant, foreach iterates over the numbers 0, 1, ... up to (and including) the nonnegative integer <stop>.

foreach(<loop_var> RANGE <start> <stop> [<step>])

In this variant, foreach iterates over the numbers from <start> up to at most <stop> in steps of <step>. If <step> is not specified, then the step size is 1. The three arguments <start> <stop> <step> must all be nonnegative integers, and <stop> must not be smaller than <start>; otherwise you enter the danger zone of undocumented behavior that may change in future releases.

foreach(<loop_var> IN [LISTS [<lists>]] [ITEMS [<items>]])

In this variant, <lists> is a whitespace or semicolon separated list of list-valued variables. The foreach command iterates over each item in each given list. The <items> following the ITEMS keyword are processed as in the first variant of the foreach command. The forms LISTS A and ITEMS ${A} are equivalent.

The following example shows how the LISTS option is processed:

set(A 0;1)
set(B 2 3)
set(C "4 5")
set(D 6;7 8)
set(E "")
foreach(X IN LISTS A B C D E)
    message(STATUS "X=${X}")
endforeach()

yields:

-- X=0
-- X=1
-- X=2
-- X=3
-- X=4 5
-- X=6
-- X=7
-- X=8

foreach(<loop_var>... IN ZIP_LISTS <lists>)

New in version 3.17.

In this variant, <lists> is a whitespace or semicolon separated list of list-valued variables. The foreach command iterates over each list simultaneously setting the iteration variables as follows:

  • if the only loop_var given, then it sets a series of loop_var_N variables to the current item from the corresponding list;

  • if multiple variable names passed, their count should match the lists variables count;

  • if any of the lists are shorter, the corresponding iteration variable is not defined for the current iteration.

list(APPEND English one two three four)
list(APPEND Bahasa satu dua tiga)

foreach(num IN ZIP_LISTS English Bahasa)
    message(STATUS "num_0=${num_0}, num_1=${num_1}")
endforeach()

foreach(en ba IN ZIP_LISTS English Bahasa)
    message(STATUS "en=${en}, ba=${ba}")
endforeach()

yields:

-- num_0=one, num_1=satu
-- num_0=two, num_1=dua
-- num_0=three, num_1=tiga
-- num_0=four, num_1=
-- en=one, ba=satu
-- en=two, ba=dua
-- en=three, ba=tiga
-- en=four, ba=

See Also